Proposed driveway in dune area sparks opposition

A proposal to build a 1,200-foot private driveway across a strip of government-owned Lake Michigan dune habitat has sparked opposition, but the plan could be approved after changes are made to the state law governing lakefront dune areas.

By Staff reports

Holland Sentinel

By Staff reports

Posted Apr. 15, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 15, 2013 at 3:18 PM

By Staff reports

Posted Apr. 15, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Apr 15, 2013 at 3:18 PM

White River Township

A proposal to build a 1,200-foot private driveway across a strip of government-owned Lake Michigan dune habitat has sparked opposition, but the plan could be approved after changes are made to the state law governing lakefront dune areas.

Bro G Land Co. has applied for a state Department of Environmental Quality permit to build the a 2,800-square-foot home on dune property near Barrier Dune Sanctuary in Muskegon County's White River Township, The Muskegon Chronicle and The Detroit News reported.

The land for the home is owned by the Gezon family, which said it has a 24-foot-wide easement across the township's property to get to the site. The family said that predates the township's purchase of the land and its creation of the dune sanctuary in the late 1980s.

"Since 1910, there's been an easement going through that property," William R. Gezon said. "The options are that they can buy our piece of property. We are open to that."

Opponents of the development described the proposed driveway, which would go through the dune sanctuary, as a road. Local municipal officials, residents and conservation groups say approval would lead to the destruction of a sensitive area that is a tourist draw.

"These fragile, critical barrier dunes are a natural ecosystem specifically placed into public trust for their protection because they can easily be destroyed," said state Rep. Collene Lamonte, D-Montague. "Building a 1,200-foot-long driveway directly across them to a single house is ludicrous."

A public hearing has been scheduled for Monday night. No vote will be made at the hearing, the DEQ said, and a decision is expected by May 13.

Past proposals have been denied several times over the last 20 years. The current proposal comes after Republican Gov. Rick Snyder last year signed legislation changing the state's sand dune law, giving builders an easier time gaining approval for houses, driveways and other projects.

At the time, environmental groups said the law would allow overdevelopment by weakening regulators' authority to block projects or require changes to reduce their impact. Pro-development interests said the previous law was tilted heavily in favor of dune protection.

The state has received almost 50 permit applications for development in dune areas, The News reported. Michelle Hohn, who heads the DEQ's statewide critical dunes committee, said those include more applications for driveways, since changes affected those.

"It's too soon to know tell if the changes are causing more applications to come in because we're just getting into the construction season," Hohn said.

The change in law led to the latest White River Township proposal, MLive.com reported.

In the White River Township plan, 1,000 feet of the driveway would run through the sanctuary, which includes wetlands, dunes, wildlife and plants, but no structures, equipment or paved surfaces. The developers said their project would do no harm to the dunes.